Morgan Stanley Downgrades Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) to Equal Weight

Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $19.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $30.00.

SAFE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Safehold from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Safehold in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Safehold from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (down from $25.00) on shares of Safehold in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Safehold from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Safehold Stock Performance

Safehold stock opened at $16.86 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 37.83 and a quick ratio of 37.83. The company has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 1.67. Safehold has a 12 month low of $15.55 and a 12 month high of $28.80. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.20.

Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. The company had revenue of $90.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.45 million. Safehold had a return on equity of 4.79% and a net margin of 32.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Safehold will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Safehold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a dividend of $0.177 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.20%. Safehold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Safehold

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SAFE. Long Pond Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Safehold by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Long Pond Capital LP now owns 2,662,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,361,000 after buying an additional 345,661 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Safehold by 266.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 349,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,171,000 after purchasing an additional 254,227 shares during the period. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Safehold during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,683,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Safehold by 16.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 662,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,369,000 after acquiring an additional 91,965 shares during the period. Finally, HGI Capital Management LLC grew its position in Safehold by 74.5% in the third quarter. HGI Capital Management LLC now owns 212,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,584,000 after acquiring an additional 90,866 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.38% of the company’s stock.

Safehold Company Profile

Safehold Inc (NYSE: SAFE) is revolutionizing real estate ownership by providing a new and better way for owners to unlock the value of the land beneath their buildings. Having created the modern ground lease industry in 2017, Safehold continues to help owners of high quality multifamily, office, industrial, hospitality, student housing, life science and mixed-use properties generate higher returns with less risk.